Intellectual Property
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Approach
The IHI Group recognizes that the effective utilization of intangible management resources in executing its management policies, business strategies, and technology strategies is essential to establishing sustainable competitive advantage. Intellectual property is also an important intangible management resource. Accordingly, the IHI Group considers it important to promote initiatives that, from an intellectual property perspective, focus on Assessment, Accumulation and Protection, and Utilization of intangible management resources, in close alignment with its management policies, business strategies, and technology strategies. Based on this fundamental approach, the IHI Group promotes intellectual property activities that are fully integrated with its management policies, business strategies, and technology strategies, under its Basic Policy on Intellectual Property and related governance structure.
Policy
IHI Group Basic Policy on Intellectual Property
Based on the following basic principles, the IHI Group conducts intellectual property activities in alignment with its management policies, business strategies, and technology strategies:
- Actively utilize information related to intellectual property to support the formulation of various strategies and facilitate decision-making.
- Utilize intellectual property as one of the important intangible management resources in business activities.
- Respect other companies’ intellectual property rights and strive to ensure compliance.
Governance
The IHI Group appoints personnel responsible for the overall management of intellectual property and formulates intellectual property policies in each division and each Group company. In addition, through the Group IP Liaison Meeting, chaired by the Intellectual Property Department, IP managers and practitioners from each division and each Group company gather to share information and hold discussions. Through these meetings, the Group strengthens the linkage between IP activities and its business and technology strategies.
Strategy
Assessment of Intangible Management Resources
Assessing the Current State of the Patent Portfolio
Technology is one of the IHI Group’s important intangible management resources. The IHI Group visualizes the technologies it possesses in each field by analyzing its patent holdings, which are one form of intellectual property, and uses this as a basis for assessment. The outcomes of these visualization-based assessments are used in various ways, including identifying the Group’s technological strengths and examining the direction of future R&D. For example, the Group has identified material technologies in the aerospace field and combustion technologies in the ammonia field as areas attracting strong external interest. Among these, the Group’s ammonia combustion technologies have received high external recognition, including the Invention Prize at the FY2025 National Commendation for Invention organized by the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation. By identifying the current state of its patent portfolio in this way, the IHI Group accurately grasps its technological strengths and uses this understanding in formulating its business and technology strategies. The Group will continue to monitor the state of its patent portfolio and further reinforce its contribution, through intellectual property, to management, business, and technology strategies, with the aim of maintaining and strengthening its sustainable competitive edge.
IP Landscape* Initiatives
The IHI Group uses IP landscape analysis to assess technology trends and the activities of competitors, thereby supporting the formulation of its business strategies and technology development policies. For example, in the development of next-generation ammonia synthesis technologies, the Group has identified the latest technology trends and the activities of promising players, and evaluated the growth potential and business risks to determine technology domains where it can build advantageous positions. The Group also actively explores opportunities to collaborate with external organizations such as universities and startups, in order to accelerate technology acquisition and business development through open innovation. Through these initiatives, the IHI Group seeks to optimize R&D investment, achieve sustainable business growth, and ultimately enhance its long-term corporate value.
IP landscape: A term combining intellectual property (IP) and landscape (scenery, environment, outlook). It refers to the practice of analyzing intellectual property information and utilizing the results to formulate corporate management strategies and make informed decisions. The term is also used to describe corporate management that places an emphasis on intellectual property.
Accumulation and Protection of Intangible Management Resources
The IHI Group secures inventions and other outcomes of its technology development—which serve as sources of competitive strength—by obtaining patent rights and maintaining its know-how as confidential information. The Group files patent applications both in Japan and overseas, selecting jurisdictions primarily based on its global business development and technology development roadmaps.
The Group decides whether to maintain rights already obtained based on the future competitive environment and cost-effectiveness, while managing know-how under strict confidentiality in accordance with internal rules and contractual obligations. For details of the annual number of patents granted and the total number of patents currently held, please refer to “Protection of Intellectual Property Rights” in the “Initiatives” section below.
Utilization of Intangible Management Resources
The IHI Group operates its business on a global basis, and appropriately protecting, managing, and utilizing its intellectual property is essential for the sustainable enhancement of corporate value. In particular, in order to create and expand markets, it is necessary to establish an environment in which high-quality technologies that deliver value to customers are properly evaluated. The Group protects its accumulated core technologies as intellectual property and retains them within the organization, while at the same time actively engaging in international standardization activities to promote the formation and expansion of markets. Specifically, the Group is promoting the formulation and application of strategies that integrate standardization and utilization of intellectual property—an open and closed strategy—in joint research and development projects conducted with companies, universities, and other institutions. For example, the Group has utilized the certification system for plans promoting open and closed strategies (Open & Close strategy with Exploiting Academic kNowledge (OCEAN) Project) to conduct studies on standards for green ammonia production as well as interviews with standardization committees and startup companies in Europe and the United States. This initiative contributes to optimizing the direction of research and development and strengthening the Group’s competitive advantage. Furthermore, it helps establish a leading position in the development of international standards, certification frameworks, and supply chains for green ammonia, while also providing a foundation for facilitating collaboration with domestic and international partners.
Open & Close strategy with Exploiting Academic kNowledge (OCEAN) Project
Risk Management
Infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties constitutes a significant management risk, as it can result in suspension of business activities, substantial costs, loss of competitive advantage, loss of co-creation opportunities, and damage to corporate value and reputation. To address these risks, the IHI Group continuously conducts investigations and monitoring of third-party intellectual property rights in alignment with its management policies, business strategies, and technology strategies, to ensure that its technology development and business activities do not infringe such rights. In particular, for ammonia‑related technologies in its fuel ammonia value chain business, which is one of its medium‑ to long‑term strategic growth businesses, the Group places special emphasis on monitoring third‑party patents to identify and avoid risks at an early stage. Specifically, the Group assigns responsible departments for each technological area related to ammonia. Whenever relevant patents are published, these departments review the content and scope of the rights and assess their relationship with the Group’s own technologies, thereby striving to identify and avoid infringement risks at an early stage. In addition, to safeguard the IHI Group’s reputation from risks associated with imitations of its products and services, the Group actively protects its trademarks and takes measures against counterfeit products.
Initiatives
Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
The IHI Group’s annual patent grants and total patents held are as follows.
Number of Patents Granted
Number of Patents Granted*
For both domestic and foreign patents, the counting method has been revised to be based on the number of inventions (i.e., the cumulative number of patent applications).
Education / Awareness Building
The IHI Group does not regard intellectual property as a domain reserved only for engineers. Instead, the Group places great importance on ensuring that all employees understand intellectual property as an intangible management resource, and on accumulating, protecting, and utilizing it in alignment with its management policies and its business and technology strategies. To this end, in addition to providing basic IP education to all employees, the Group offers tailored training programs addressing the specific issues associated with each role, thereby enhancing IP literacy across the Group. For young leaders, the Group provides training on formulating business strategies that integrate technology and IP strategies, enabling future management talent to develop the capability to manage business, technology, and IP in an integrated manner. The Group also provides basic training via e‑learning on topics such as invention disclosures, patent searches, and the fundamentals of copyright and trademarks, thereby improving convenience for participants. In addition, through regular information sharing, including IP‑related subjects in promotion examinations and so on, the Group uses a variety of approaches to foster a broad‑based understanding of intellectual property among all employees.
Intellectual Property Course Participants (Total)
Innovation Management Top
